trapezium

American  

[truh-pee-zee-uhm] / trəˈpi zi əm /

noun

• trapeziums,
  plural
• trapezia
  plural

1. Geometry.

   1. (in Euclidean geometry) any rectilinear quadrilateral plane figure not a parallelogram.

   2. a quadrilateral plane figure of which no two sides are parallel.

   3. British. trapezoid.

2. Anatomy. a bone in the wrist that articulates with the metacarpal bone of the thumb.

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trapezium British  

/ trəˈpiːzɪəm /

noun

1. Usual US and Canadian name: trapezoid. a quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal length

2. a quadrilateral having neither pair of sides parallel

3. a small bone of the wrist near the base of the thumb

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trapezium Scientific  

/ trə-pē′zē-əm /

• trapeziums
  plural

1. A four-sided plane figure having no parallel sides.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• trapezial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• trapezia
  plural
• trapeziums
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of trapezium

1545–55; < New Latin < Greek trapézion kind of quadrilateral, literally, small table, equivalent to trápez ( a ) table (shortening of *tetrapeza object having four feet, equivalent to tetra- four + péza foot, akin to poús, podós; see tetra-, foot) + -ion diminutive suffix

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trapezium trapezia trapeziums

This movement is produced at the first carpometacarpal joint, which is a saddle joint formed between the trapezium carpal bone and the first metacarpal bone.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

A three-inch telescope resolves θ Orionis into the famous trapezium, and a nine-inch instrument sees two stars more.

From Recreations in Astronomy With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work by Henry White Warren

The cut tendons, and the extensor secundi internodii tendon and the radial artery can thus be pushed outwards, enabling the trapezium to be separated from the carpus by cutting-pliers.

From A Manual of the Operations of Surgery For the Use of Senior Students, House Surgeons, and Junior Practitioners by Joseph Bell

Outside the trapezium, which we have described, the barricades extended, as we have said, as far as Faubourg Saint-Martin, and to the neighbourhood of the canal.

From Napoleon the Little by Victor Hugo

A line drawn through alpha and eta Ursæ Majoris led to its position; it also formed a trapezium with alpha Aquilæ and alpha Lyræ and alpha Coronæ Borealis.

From Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea by John Franklin

And let all quadrilaterals other than these be called trapezia.

From The Teaching of Geometry by David Eugene Smith

The figures inscribed and circumscribed to the segment are made up of such narrow strips and have a saw-like edge; all the elements are trapezia except two, which are triangles, one in each figure.

From Archimedes Men of Science by Thomas Little Heath

We will debate as to whether this equality of parts exists in all parallelograms, trapeziums, and like figures.

From Émile or, Concerning Education; Extracts by Jules Steeg

We observed this degree of precision that we might not add the uncertainty of the measure of triangles, trapeziums, and the sinuosities of the coasts, to the uncertainty of geographical statements.

From Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 3 by Alexander von Humboldt

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